Posted by Mike on 23/2/2009, 12:43 pm

I'm 21 and a student, and have had this problem for a long time, but it's only really been serious enough for me to consider going to a workshop in this last year or so. To summarise, I often have problems urinating in cubicles, and assuming I can shut the door (in some places you cant't cos its bust and won't swing shut) and there aren't people trying to knock on the door or anything, I can normally go within a minute or two (but with pretty high anxiety about the whole thing). It can really be a problem, because most of the time I am out in public is the evenings in pubs and clubs, where they are busy and I'm with my friends, so this can be a serious inconvenience sometimes. It was a hard decision, but I decided that I would go to the manchester workshop to try and get some help. I had no idea what to expect, and was pretty damn nervous, and continued to be for the first evening, but you will quickly start to settle down as everyone is very friendly, and there was a huge range of different people from all kinds of backgrounds and ages. Your not forced to do anything, you could probably sit there in silence the whole time if you really wanted to Even if you didn't feel like trying the gradual exposure exercises (which you have complete control over), the lectures are worth going for alone. They will really change your attitude to how you can get confidence back and relax when coping with your anxiety. I had no idea how I would do in the gradual exposure stuff, but I ended up reaching my goal pretty quickly! You can start off however you like, but in my case I went for door shut, tv on loudly and my buddy on the far side of the room by the window (also the bathroom has a loud fan). If you don't like having someone that close you can do whatever you want, have him a floor below you in the hotel if you really like. Eventually I got to having them stand just by the bathroom door with hardly any noise at all and the door wide open, so this was really great! I also got the chance to really take my time and practise letting myself relax completely, which was an important lesson for me that I don't think I could have allowed myself to learn if I hadn't gone to the workshop. But the main and most important thing I got out of it was a complete attitude change and confidence gain. I would guess that most sufferers of AP aren't particularly self-confident, either as a result or a cause of AP - so this course is worth going to alone just for that, to build confidence. I would really recommend doing it - your mindset will change for the better, and hopefully your performance too

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